New boss at Headquarters Battalion, 1st MARDIV - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

New boss at Headquarters Battalion, 1st MARDIV

Lt. Col. Thomas Savage, who led 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, on its 2011 deployment to Afghanistan, will assume command of Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division, next week.

Headquarters Battalion commander Col. Rudolph Janiczek will relinquish command to Savage at a Feb. 8 ceremony at Camp Margarita (33 Area) aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., and become chief of staff of 1st Marine Division.

Janiczek commanded 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, on several major deployments throughout the Pacific and deployed batteries, liaison elements and other detachments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Under Savage’s command, Marines with 1/5 deployed to the volatile Sangin district of Helmand province between April and November 2011, tackling some of the heaviest fighting among U.S. troops in Afghanistan.